INDIANAPOLIS — The first real taste of the Month of May comes with a week left in April, as 29 cars will take to Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s historic oval for Wednesday’s highly anticipated IndyCar open test.

The fun begins at 11 a.m. with veterans jumping on track for two hours before rookie orientation/veteran refresher programs begin at 1 p.m. They’ll have the oval to themselves until 3 p.m and from there, the party begins with all 29 cars eligible to take the track.

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The Indy car test will be live-streamed on all IndyCar platforms, including IndyCar.com, beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday.(Photo: Matt Kryger/IndyStar)

Fans wishing to watch the test in person have been welcomed to do so from the Turn 2 spectator mounds at IMS. For those who have to at least pretend to work, the test will be live-streamed on all IndyCar platforms, including IndyCar.com, beginning at 11 a.m, with Kevin Lee, Anders Krohn, Robin Miller and Katie Hargitt calling the action.

Back to the Racing Capital Of The World tomorrow... I talked to your bosses, they’re cool with you skipping work so you can come watch the test. You’re welcome. See you there!

Which drivers are here?

The 29 drivers (see full entry list below) expected to test Wednesday share 196 Indianapolis 500 starts among them. Helio Castroneves’ 18 starts lead the pack. His first one (2001), came a little more than a year after rookie Colton Herta was born.

Four of the entrants (Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson, Santino Ferrucci and Colton Herta) are rookies who will be tackling the IMS oval for the first time in an Indy car. Both Herta and Rosenqvist have driven on the oval in Indy Lights cars, while all four have completed oval tests at Texas Motor Speedway within the past year.

Eight of the entrants are either one-off cars (Conor Daly, JR Hildebrand, Oriol Servia and Fernando Alonso) or part-time cars (Charlie Kimball, Ed Jones and Jack Harvey). Castroneves is somewhere in between as he will also compete in the IndyCar Grand Prix. Servia, meanwhile, will be at the test but has not been confirmed by the team as the pilot of the No. 77 car for the 500.

Fifteen of the cars will be Honda-powered; the other 13 are Chevrolets.

Storylines to watch

McLaren Indy makes its world debut. Fernando Alonso and company tested at Texas Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago, but it was a closed session, and their speeds, while ultimately inconsequential, were a well-guarded secret.

On Wednesday, there will be no secrets, as we’ll see exactly how far this program has come since its inception six months ago. Expect speed bumps. Remember, while Carlin is helping with some aspects of the program, this is very nearly a solely McLaren effort, so do not look for the two-time Formula One world champion to be as quick out of the gates as he was when he hopped into one of Andretti Autosport’s cars a couple of years ago. McLaren's team — beyond Alonso — boasts plenty of talent, but it still has a lot of learning to do.

Fortunately, it has plenty of time to do it. As team president Zak Brown said, speed only matters during qualifying and race day. It’s fun to be fast in practice, but that’s not the goal.

McLaren Indy driver Fernando Alonso tested at Texas Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago. Results were kept quiet. Wednesday, we'll see how far this program has come since its inception six months ago.(Photo: Photo provided by McLaren)

“We’re not going to be in any rush,” Brown told IndyStar ahead of the Acura Long Beach Grand Prix. “Ultimate speed will count in qualifying. Ultimate race pace will count in the race. There’s a lot of days that go into month of May, so we’re not going to come in trying to take any headlines in April or early May. You have to have massive respect for Indianapolis, the competition, so we’re going to keep our heads down and be quiet and be focused on the two days that matter most, qualifying and the race.”

Implementation of the AFP. For the first time since it was announced in February, cars will be equipped with IndyCar’s latest cockpit safety measure, the "Advanced Frontal Protection" device. The device, which is made of titanium and is about three inches tall and less than an inch wide, is positioned in front of the cockpit along the chassis centerline and is designed to deflect incoming debris away from drivers.

Over the past few seasons, IndyCar has experimented with aeroscreens as a way to protect drivers. That project has not been shelved. In fact, Scott Dixon told IndyStar recently “there's some exciting things in the pipeline for the aeroscreen."

Perhaps we’ll learn more about that soon, as Jay Frye (IndyCar president), Bill Pappas (vice president, Competition, Race Engineering) and Tino Belli (director, Aerodynamic Development) are slated to discuss the AFP, as well as IndyCar’s other safety initiatives, Wednesday morning before the test begins.

Frye hinted a few weeks ago that a major announcement about safety could be imminent.

“We feel really good about what the next phase is," Frye said, "and hopefully sometime in the next 30 to 45 days we'll be able to show it and disclose what the next part of that phase is."

New tires, new surface, new aero tweaks = better racing? After Firestone's October tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, participating drivers were optimistic about the direction IndyCar oval racing would take heading into 2019.

"It was simply all better," reigning 500 winner Will Power told IndyCar.com. "The new tire was better, they added some downforce, which was better. And the actual track surface has more grip."

Along with Power, Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan and Ed Carpenter turned laps at the speedway, which had recently received a new seal-coating, and the consensus seemed to be that oval racing in 2019 would be much improved.

Dixon said the tire, particularly, was a step in the right direction given the difficulties teams faced last season.

"The 2018 tire had a pretty strong issue in just the way it worked,” Dixon said. “Some guys like Will (Power) and Penske were able to work it out ... but it was a peaky tire, it had (grip) then a lot of take-off.

“The 2019 tire (we tested today) is much more consistent. It’s much easier to feel what it’s doing. The grip level is up, which we need mechanical grip. I think Firestone did a very, very good job. ... It’s definitely a good direction and good construction and compound.”

Of course, this test was conducted in October in much different conditions than drivers will see Wednesday and throughout May. So, it's no guarantee the racing will be an improvement, but there's at least reason to be optimistic heading into the test.

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Stephen J. Beard, stephen.beard@indystar.com